Boeing KB-29P 44-83950, 2nd Air Refuelling Squadron, 2nd Bomb Wing, USAF, crashed at Carsphairn on the 7th July 1951

 

Joseph A. O’Leary 1st Lieutenant Pilot Killed
George Merrill Foote 1st Lieutenant Co-pilot Killed
Claude Jacques Hayden Jr 1st Lieutenant Navigator Killed
Noel M. Poppoff Staff Sergeant Engineer Killed
Tennant A. Metz Captain Radar Operator Killed
John B. Simpson Corporal Radio Operator Killed
John P. Finnegan Corporal Scanner Killed
Jack W. Kern 1st Lieutenant Boom Instructor Killed
Henry H. Hill Technical Sergeant Boom Operator Killed
Wallace L. Scott Staff Sergeant Boom Operator (u/t) Killed
Reginald Y. Russell Corporal Boom Operator (u/t) Killed

 

The aircraft had taken off from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk at 09:17 (BST) for a Radar Navigation Flight which was to be followed by 4 hours of Air to Air refuelling practice with a Boeing B-50. At 11:03 the aircraft was in contact with the controller at Prestwick, having entered the Scottish Flight Information Region, the pilot reported they were at a altitude of ~14,500ft in visual conditions. Only 7 minutes later the aircraft was seen be witnesses on the ground descending out of cloud at 1,500 to 2,000ft over Carsphairn on a NNW course. They stated that the engines sounded different to the aircraft which normally over-flew the area. The aircraft then turned onto a SE course before stalling and entering a spin from which it did not recover before impacted the ground in a deep gully at the edge of a field. The fuel tanks, containing an estimated 8,000 US Gallons exploded and completely destroyed the aircraft, scattering it over a considerable area.

Rebuilt wall at the crash site of Boeing KB-29P 44-83950 at Carsphairn, Dumfries & Galloway
Apart from a couple of tiny fragments nothing remains visible at the actual crash site.
The only real clue is the re-aligned section of wall and the remains of the original which was destroyed by the aircraft.
Piece of wreckage found close to the crash site of Boeing KB-29P 44-83950 at Carsphairn, Dumfries & Galloway
One of the burnt pieces found close to the crash site.
Memorial and wreckage close to the crash site of Boeing KB-29P 44-83950 at Carsphairn, Dumfries & Galloway
Some distance away is this memorial plaque and collection of wreckage from the aircraft.
Looking from the memorial towards the crash site of Boeing KB-29P 44-83950 at Carsphairn, Dumfries & Galloway
This photograph is taken from beside the memorial looking back to the area where the aircraft actually crashed.
Grave of 1st Lieutenant Jack W. Kern at Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Francisco, California
The crew of 44-83950 were buried at various cemeteries in the United States, 1st Lieutenant Jack W. Kern was buried at the Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Francisco, California.